TCU
9-6, 1-1MWC
Wyoming
6-8, 0-2MWC
Frogs hammer Cowboys, 83-56, in Mountain West Conference action
1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2008
Final Stats | 
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Fort Worth, Texas - The TCU men's basketball opened up Mountain West Conference action at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in grand fashion as the Horned Frogs posted an 83-56 victory over the University of Wyoming on Saturday (Jan. 12).
The Frogs improved to 9-6 on the 2007-08 campaign and evened their conference record to 1-1 while the Cowboys fells to 6-8 and 0-2 in Mountain West Conference play.
The scoring attack of the Purple and White came out right from the get-go as the Frogs connected on the first 13 points in the game highlighted by a trio of three-pointers by Henry Salter (Gulfport, Miss./Mississippi Gulf Coast College).
The TCU guard came into the contest ranked 11th among all NCAA Division I players in three-point field goals made per game with an average of 2.79 treys per evening and notched five in the contest against the Cowboys en route to finishing with a game-high 20 points.
The Frogs increased their lead to 18 points at 24-6 at the 10:56 mark after Alvardo Parker (South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands/Frank Phillips J.C.) grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed three-pointer by Brent Hackett (Fort Worth, Texas/Southwest H.S.) and slammed home the dunk for the Purple and White attack.
The Frogs held a double-digit advantage over their Mountain West Conference counterparts for the remainder of the half as they built a 20-point advantage on two occasions with the first one coming at the 4:20 mark following Salter's fourth three-pointer of the game to make the score 38-18.
TCU was able to control the final minutes of the first half and cruised into the locker room with a 40-22 advantage holding the Cowboys' to a 28.0 percent (7-of-25) shooting performance during the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second half of the action, the Frogs didn't let up as the Purple and White controlled the game and held a 34-point advantage at 63-29 margin following a pair of free throws by senior Neiman Owens.
With the game safely in hand, the Frogs matched the Cowboys score-for-score for the majority of the final minutes and were able to cruise home with an 83-56 victory for their second straight conference home opening victory.
Kevin Langford (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.) posted a stellar performance for the Frogs in the low post as the TCU junior finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go along with two assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action while Hackett finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and four assists in 23 minutes of court time.
Jason Ebie (Houston, Texas/Alief Elsik H.S.) posted a strong performance in his first collegiate start as the TCU sophomore notched seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in 20 minutes of action while Mike Scott (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center) notched eight points, three assists and one steal coming off of the bench for TCU.
The Frogs finished the game connecting on 45.6 percent (31-of-68) shooting from the floor and held a 46-32 advantage over the Cowboys on the boards. TCU finished with 20 assists and forced the visiting squad to commit 18 turnovers in the game.
The Frogs will be back in conference action on Tuesday (Jan. 15) when the Purple and White plays host to the University of New Mexico with an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
Quotes from the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
Head Coach Neil Dougherty on if TCU's defense fuels the offense
"I always say it's amazing how when a player makes a shot, they will guard who you tell them to guard. It does feed off of each other, and we try to tell them that."
Dougherty on if good defense settles the team down
"I always say that if you play good defense while you're going through a drought, and you score a basket then you look and say `We're down five, we're down seven, instead of twenty-one.' So if you continue to guard, eventually you'll score a basket, and get out of a five-minute stretch with it being just a three-possession game."
Dougherty on the team not letting up
"It was nice. We were talking on the radio about not necessarily always executing right, but playing hard, and I think tonight we were committed to competing. It's hard to go 40 minutes without any mental lapses. Hopefully, that's something we'll start to understand more."
Dougherty on containing Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones
"I think early in the game we got lucky a couple times because we put so much focus on stopping their penetration that we over helped, and gave them wide open shots. If you make shots then you're more effective because then you have to get to those shooters. We got a little lucky that we caught a cold-shooting team because some of those shots were wide open."
TCU guard Brent Hackett on team's defensive effort
"I think we played defense well. Over the past few years, our defense has had to help us out, but tonight our offense helped us. They missed a lot of shots, and luck kind of worked in our favor. Wyoming's a team that hasn't won many games, but still shoots the ball well.
TCU forward Kevin Langford on what win means to the team
"It feels pretty good to get a win against as solid a team as Wyoming with all the good players they have. It's a good job of our team to bounce back and be confident.
TCU guard Henry Salter on fast start
"I gained a lot of confidence, second shot opportunities and just trying to knock down every shot."
The Go Frog Five (Notes from the DMC)
- Henry Salter recorded his 14th double-digit scoring performance in 15 games this season as he finished with 20 points against Wyoming. This season, Salter is ranked in the top five in scoring average and 10th in rebounding average among all players in the Mountain West Conference.
- This is the first game that the Frogs have featured Jason Ebie, Brent Hackett, Henry Salter, Kevin Langford, and John Ortiz (Cali, Colombia/Colby C.C.) as starters this season.
- Against Wyoming, the Frogs tallied 29 rebounds in the first half. In TCU's last three games, the Frogs recorded rebounding performances of 29 (San Diego State), 31 (Texas) and 20 (Rice) for the entire game.
- Tonight marked the fourth time this season that every Frog that suited up has seen action.
- Wyoming entered tonight's contest averaging 73.6 points per game, which ranks fourth in the MWC. The Frogs' defense held the Cowboys to only 56 points.
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